Stuart Hayes of Great Britain defended his 2008 title and topped comeback kid Greg Bennett by 21 seconds to win the Nautica Malibu Triathlon Olympic distance elite race Saturday. Bennett said he was satisfied with his finish in his first race after suffering extensive bruises and cuts when hit by a car in a training crash after his win at the New York City Triathlon six weeks ago.

"It was great to win in Malibu. I love to race in California and the US its such a great place and so different from European races." said Stuart Hayes to slowtwitch. "I have been doing the ITU World Cup series for the last 10 years and needed a change from drafting races. So I will be focusing on the LA and Dallas Olympic races and the World 70.3 in Clearwater."

Laura Bennett, joining husband Greg in a return to competition after months of rehab for her own leg injury, used a race-best 35:29 10k run to overtake defending champion Becky Lavelle and earn a 12-seconds margin of victory at Malibu in a time of 2:00:20.

"It has been a very trying 18 months, getting through the games with a foot problem and then nursing it through the first half of the year with taking time off mid season/racing when not ready, to again taking some time off, it has been a roller coaster ride emotionally and physically," said a clearly elated Laura Bennett after the race. "In saying that, the drive to figure it out and get back in the game was always full throttle, and having success here in Malibu shows to me that my vision for getting back on track is coming to fruition!"

Nautica Malibu Triathlon
Malibu, California
September 12, 2009
S 1.5 k/ B 40k/ R 10k

Men

1. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:48:12
2. Greg Bennett (AUS) 1:48:33
3. Michael Raelert (GER) 1:49:09
4. Ronnie Schildknecht (SUI) 1:53:36
5. Paul Ambrose (AUS) 1:53:44
6. Stefan Riesen (SUI) 1:55:36
7. Nigel Cooper (AUS) 1:56:28
8. Hernan Valdero (Simi Valley CA) 1:57:00
9. Zachary Britton (Simi Valley CA) 1:57:02
10. Karl Bordine (Carlsbad CA) 1:57:25

Women

1. Laura Bennett (Boulder CO) 2:00:20
2. Becky Lavelle (Los Gatos CA) 2:00:32
3. Amanda Stevens (USA) 2:03:33
4. Alicia Kaye (Maynard MA) 2:05:29
5. Misato Takagi (JPN) 2:05:58
6. Kate Major (AUS) 2:07:05
7. Hayley Peirsol (USA) 2:07:37
8. Rachel Challis (Carlsbad CA) 2:10:21
9. Susanne Davis (Carlsbad CA) 2:14:18
10. Brittany Day (Santa Paula CA) 2:18:14